Opposites Attract
by sadrewa
Summary: I still find it somewhat humorous the way people used his name, the way I used his name. 'Draco Malfoy', the two come hand in hand. Together they make him sound like some sort of great legend, and I guess in some ways he rather is. But use either of them alone and you get a completely different result; 'Draco' sounds seductive, but 'Malfoy' just sounds plain menacing.
1. Chapter 1

My fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was drawing nearer, with only three days left until we boarded the train on King's Cross Station and journeyed to the Scottish Castle. As always, those remaining days of the holiday were spent with friends and my room played host to not just myself, but three other girls as well. Those girls being Hermione Granger, my best friend, and Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, the two other girls that I shared a dorm with at Hogwarts and was closest to.

"So what's the plan for today?" Lavender asked when everyone was fully awake and sitting around snuggled in warm blankets.

"Depends." Parvati said, "How many times have we been to Diagon Alley since school ended?"

"At least thirty, maybe more." I answered. From three years of relentless Quidditch determination, I was slender and fit. I had elbow length, dark brown, somewhat curly hair and dark brown eyes that stood out the most in my face, also matching my hair. My skin was medium toned and my facial features were relatively smooth. I was the type of girl that wad almost never interested in boys, because most of them were my bestfriends. Guys were always so much easier to be around for me.

"Well that rules that out." Lavender sighed.

"What about a game of Quidditch?" Hermione suggested.

"Since when has Quidditch ever interested you, Hermione?" I asked, quite surprised.

"Oh, I won't be playing of course! I'll just observe."

"Of course." I laughed, "We have enough people for a keeper, two chasers and one beater on each team. That is, if the boys and Liza play as well." I said, thinking it through.

"Does everyone have their brooms?" Parvati queried. Everyone nodded.

"Well, it's settled then." I stated, "We'll play at about twelve?" Again, the three girls nodded.

I got out from my makeshift bed and, grudgingly, everyone followed. It was a very cold, crisp morning and we all wrapped up in our warm dressing gowns and put on our fuzzy slippers before shuffling downstairs into wonderful scents of bacon, eggs and other delicious breakfast foods.

Elizabeth, my younger sister by one year who looked just like a slightly younger version of me, was sitting at the kitchen bench chatting away happily to our Mother, Gina Eddie, about her stay at Luna Lovegood's. The boys, being my fraternal twin brother; Tyler, his and my friend; Ronald Weasley, Nate, my older brother by one year and his friend Mackay Williams, were nowhere to be seen. No doubt, still sound asleep, utilising the rest of their holiday sleep-ins.

"Morning all." Mum greeted as we sat down at the table.

"Morning." Everyone pleasantly chorused.

"Sarah, wake up the boys so they can eat too, would you?" Mum directed. Lavender immediately stood up.

"I'll get Nate," She offered, trying to sound casual, "a-a-and Mackay." She stammered, momentarily forgetting.

Although Lavender would never admit it, she was hopelessly in love with my brother. It was the main reason she ever came around to our house, but I got on with her so it wasn't a major problem. I nodded my approval and she quickly disappeared up the stairs to the second floor where Nate's room was across the hall from mine. I went to the opposite end of the house, the kitchen being on one end, and banged loudly on the door of Tyler's room.

"Get up or there'll be nothing left for breakfast!" I shouted at the door. It was then opened surprisingly quickly by a person I was quite shocked to see.

"Good morning, Sarah." Laurie greeted, a bright smile lighting up his face.

"Laurie! I didn't know you where here." I exclaimed, the same smile forming on my face. He laughed and gathered me into a bone-crushing hug.

Laurence Parker was one of my best friends. His family and my family had been friends for years, before both of us were born, and we grew up together. He was quite tall for a fifth year and had the build of a Quidditch player. He had amazing blue eyes and scruffy light brown hair. The blue-eyed boy then proceeded to think it appropriate to pick me up under my knees and my arms, forcing me to cling to his neck, for fear of falling, just as the other two boys walked out of Tyler's room. Tyler looked us up and down, smirked, then continued into the kitchen. Ron, however, was not so outspoken.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, "Sarah is the girl you refused to tell us about, Laurie! I have to say, I'm happy for you both. But mate, you're going to have a hard time dealing with her brothers." Ron taunted. Laurie blushed and put me down. Ron chuckled and followed Tyler out of the hallway.

"I never knew you liked me." I said to Laurie in a fake, innocent voice, turning to face him. He stuck out his tongue and started coming towards me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, backing away. He quickly came at me and grabbed me, picking me up by my waist. I screamed and he laughed deviously.

"Laurie! Put me down now!" I shouted. It didn't faze him in the slightest. He carried me back out to the kitchen where mum was taking everyone's breakfast orders and everyone except for Tyler and Ron, looked up and stared at us. He placed me back on the ground, still laughing, and I quickly sat down at the table, thoroughly embarrassed. Hermione, sitting opposite me, raised her eyebrows in silent discussion.

"Shut up." I mouthed as a plate of food was placed in front of me.

For a short while I ate in silent protest, however, I eventually ended up joining in the conversations and laughing the morning away with the others. Occasionally I shot a dirty glare at Laurie, although, he would just chuckle.

* * *

"Hermione, you have to play." I groaned for the thousandth time, "It's not fair otherwise, now that Laurie is here as well."

"Oh fine! But I will not be an asset to anybody." She huffed, finally giving in.

"Captains?" Parvati asked as we gathered in the middle of the field outside my house.

"Sarah and Laurie, they both actually play on the team." Ron answered. Laurie raised his eyebrows at me and I mouthed a 'you're on'.

"Nate and Tyler are the strongest, other than you two, and Hermione and Liza are the weakest." Tyler explained, "So, you pick one of each and then divide up the rest of us."

"You go first." Mitchell offered.

"Tyler." I began.

On my team, there ended up being Lavender, Tyler, Ron and Liza and on Laurie's there was Mackay, Nate, Parvati and Hermione. Everyone was pretty rusty in their skills because none of us had played a game in ages as there was rarely a time when so many people were at one house. Very quickly into the game we lost track of scores because we hadn't had anyone to referee the game for us, but we continued the game for the fun of it. We had started at around two o'clock, later than planned, packed it in at three o'clock, and it was at four o'clock that we decided to find a spot somewhere in the forest that bordered my house, to set up a campfire for our last night of holidays together at my place.

The next day, our second last day before school resumed, Hermione, Ron and our family were flying to 12 Grimmauld Place, Sirius Black's house and the new headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Hermione and Ron and his family had been staying there for most of the holidays and my Father, Maurice Eddie, had joined them a few days prior.

Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, was also like an uncle to me. When he escaped from Azkaban, Mum and Dad had told us the real story of how he was innocent and that he would be hiding at our place for a while. It took some time to get used to, as we had known him as a criminal for years, but we soon grew to love him like a part of the family. The only people that knew about Sirius's whereabouts were the members and their families of the Order. These people, except for Peter Pettigrew and Lord Voldemort, were also the only people that knew that Sirius was an innocent man, framed by a so-called friend.

Mum had been nine when the Order was originally founded and as soon as she turned eighteen in 1979, she became a member. This was where she met Dad, he was twenty-three when she joined. They fought side by side for three years and according to them, fell madly in love and wound up with four kids and a large house in the countryside of England. They had both again become members of the Order when it was announced that it would be re-founded in 1995.

At that time of the year in England, it starts getting dark quickly by around six o'clock, giving us an hour to find a spot and make a fire muggle style since we weren't allowed to use magic outside of school. We set off, on foot, into the dense forest, each of us carrying a bag of something; marshmallows, chocolates, crackers and a wide assortment of other sweets that we managed to get our hands on.

"This is it." I said as the dense forest stopped and opened into a small clearing.

"Is it safe?" Lavender asked, half cowering behind Nate.

"Usually." Tyler answered before I could. A worried look crossed Lavender's face. I rolled my eyes.

"It is, don't worry, Tyler's just trying to scare you." I reassured her. She nodded, but still wouldn't come out from behind my older brother.

There was an abundance of broken branches lying around and I started gathering some up, as did everyone else. In less than ten minutes, we had acquired enough wood for the fire and we set it all down in the middle of the clearing. Laurie got a few big rocks and placed them around the pile of wood in a circle while Hermione lay out blankets for us to sit on.

"Perfect." I said when it was all finished.

"Who brought the matches?" Nate asked. No one answered. Everyone looked around for the taker.

"It doesn't matter, Nate's seventeen isn't he?" Parvati asked. I shook my head.

"I'm only a sixth year Pav, so's Mackay." Nate explained.

"I'll go back and get them." I sighed.

"I'll come too." Hermione said, probably glad for an excuse to get out of there, for she was looking worried too. We started slowly back through the forest and after a little while of walking she broke the silence between us.

"So..?" She hinted.

"So, what?" I replied, confused. She giggled.

"You and Laurie of course." She stated as if it was completely obvious, which to her it probably was.

"Oh, I don't know." I sighed, "I mean, I fancy him, quite a bit actually, and he's told me he fancies me, but what if say we did get together? What if something happened and we had a really messy break up? What if it ruined fourteen years worth of friendship? I don't think I can or should, for that matter, risk something like that." I explained hurriedly, looking at just about everything except Hermione. She was silent for a short while, contemplating what I had just said.

"When I say this, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, because it's your life and your decision; but if it were me, I'd give it a go. Say it doesn't work out and you did have a messy breakup, I don't think that it could ruin a friendship as strong as yours. Then there's the factor that you could have just found your soul mate, the one you want to marry and if you don't give it a go you could be throwing the one you're meant to be with for the rest of your life away." She said in one breath, the words tumbling out of her mouth. I was absolutely awestruck.

"Since when have you been all 'deep and meaningful' about boys?" I laughed.

"What can I say?" She laughed, just as a shrill scream sounded from behind us. We had just reached the end of the forest and at the same time, we grabbed our wands out and ran as fast as we could back to the clearing.

We burst through the trees with wands at the ready. Everyone was standing around looking quite shocked but apart from that, there were no noticeable changes or signs of danger.

"What happened?" I puffed.

"Nate scared the living daylights out of me! That's what happened." Liza cried, half in hysterics. Lavender, standing next to him, backhanded Nate as punishment.

"Hey!" He shouted, surprised, "Sorry Liz, it was just a joke." She nodded.

"How about no making the little sister scream until we get back?" I insisted. Liza glared, "Or at all." I quickly added. Nate laughed.

"What was taking you so long anyway?" Ron asked, "Surely it doesn't take ten minutes to get some matches." I shrugged, looking at Hermione.

"We were just talking." She answered.

"Well did you even get them?" He asked, clearly frustrated. I shook my head, "Bloody hell, you were taking your time, hu?" I laughed at his annoyance.

"We'll be quicker this time, Ron. No talking, I swear it." I said with a serious tone. He laughed too.

I turned and started back into the forest, however, before I had even covered three metres, a large, black figure glided out from behind a tree. It was just inside the shadow line of the trees, only a metre or so away from me, and I couldn't see exactly what it was.

"_Lu_-" My spell was cut off as the figure swooped upon me, lifted me off my feet and slammed me into the nearest tree. The figure was now only centimetres from my face getting closer and closer. It seemed from the minute the thing had appeared, all the happiness had vanished from the world, and as I looked over the creature holding me up against the tree, I suddenly knew what it was.

* * *

**Okay, so I've re-written and re-uploaded this story about ten times now and I'm almost 90% sure this is the final time and I'm actually happy with how it is now. I hope you enjoy, don't forget to review! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

I was completely unaware as to what any of the others were doing, the Dementor's rattling breath flooding my thoughts. I was getting weaker and weaker by the second as it drained away my happiness, sucking the life out of me. I had to act. I focused all my energy into my happy memory, just as Professor Lupin had taught me. I thought all the way back to my first day at Hogwarts, we were at the train station and I was getting on the Hogwarts Express for the first time ever, I found an empty compartment and waved to Mum, Dad and Liza with a huge smile on my face. I remember being so excited. Then the compartment door slid open and three girls stood in the doorway, also with huge smiles lighting up their faces. They asked if they could join me and we made our introductions. We became friends that day and five years later, we still were. I closed my eyes.

"_Expecto Patronum_!" I yelled. A silver, wispy giraffe awkwardly leapt out from my wand and cantered after the Dementor, it's ears angrily pinned back and heavy snorts escaping it's nose. It's rare you would ever see a giraffe behave in such a way and if it hadn't been a near death situation, it would have almost been comical.

I was dropped to the ground and I quickly got back on my feet to see where the Dementor had gone. It had disappeared from sight but I wasn't about to take chances. I looked at the others, they were all gawking at me.

"Grab the stuff, let's go!" I ordered, taking charge. They snapped back into reality and did as I instructed. We sprinted all the way back to the house and didn't stop until we were inside. I collapsed on the kitchen floor just as Mum almost ran into the room, looking very panic-stricken and worried.

"What's happened?" She cried, crouching beside me. I covered my eyes trying to regain some strength.

"Demen... tor." Was the only word that Laurie was able to puff. I took my hand away from my eyes and saw my Mother staring down at me, an even more worried look on her face. She got up from beside me and hurried over to the fridge, getting out something rectangular in a silver wrapper. She unwrapped it and handed it to me, it was chocolate. I waved it off and sat up.

"It'll make you feel better, hun." She said sincerely. I shook my head.

"I feel fine." I assured her, standing up. She nodded and put it away.

"What in heaven's name are Dementors doing in Ottery St. Catchpole?" She rhetorically asked, when she had recovered herself, "I haven't heard news of any breakouts."

"It wasn't looking for anyone, Mum." Tyler explained, "It tried to kiss Sarah, it was sent here to attack." She looked at him, completely dumbfounded.

"H-how did you g-get away?" She stammered. Everyone looked at me.

"Sarah produced a Patronus Charm." Hermione answered quite calmly.

"None of us knew you could do that, Sarah." Ron stated, "We thought Harry was the only student." I gave him a weak smile.

"Not even I knew." Mum added, "How long have you been able to do that?"

"Since third year." I answered. Everyone wore an expression that resembled a silent 'what?'

"When Professor Lupin taught Harry," I went on, "he taught me as well, said I might need it one day. I haven't until just now."

"Why have you never told us?" Laurie asked.

"You never asked." I shrugged.

"Come on then, you can sit by the fire in here and warm yourselves up." Mum said, ushering everyone into our large living room.

Just as I was about to sit down in front of the fire between Hermione and Tyler, a searing pain washed over my head. It felt as if something very sharp had been lodged in my skull. I doubled over in pain, kneeling to the floor clutching my head. Everyone rushed to my side, I could hear them calling my name but I couldn't tear my mind away from the intense pain to answer them. Suddenly everything became distant. The voices were getting further and further away and I couldn't feel the floor anymore. It was as if I were floating. The pain faded and was replaced by an image, a moving image. A memory? No it wasn't a memory. It was something completely new to me.

I watched as a tall, skinny boy and a much plumper boy stood in an alleyway, their heads darting around as they sky became filled with dark clouds. The alleyway was pitch black, yet somehow I could see everything. The next minute, the plump boy had knocked the other to the ground and was running in the opposite direction, towards a dark, hooded figure, it was a creature that not only ten minutes before had threatened my life. In the corner of my eye, I saw something light up dully. I tore my eyes away from the plump boy and focused on the skinny boy who had recovered his wand and was now upright, backing away from a second hooded figure. A wisp of silver vapour emitted from his wand. Then, with a burst of sliver light, a huge stag came galloping out of the boy's wand. I instantly recognised the boy's unique features, his untidy jet-black hair, those startlingly green, almond shaped eyes and the lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Then, as fast as it had come the image was gone and I could once again hear the voices from my living room. The pain was completely gone and I recovered myself, sitting up, cross-legged on the floor. All around me, I saw wide-eyed and shocked faces.

"The Dementors are going to attack Harry." I blurted out.

"What? When?" Hermione asked, quite confused.

"Tomorrow night." I answered.

"Sarah, how do you know?" Tyler asked tentatively. I stared at the floor.

"I... I think I just had a vision." I whispered, unsure of the words.

I dreamt of Dementors all night. Of their haunting decayed bodies wrapped in black shredded cloaks and their sharp rattling breaths. The thought of them is enough send chills down your spine, let alone having one centimetres from your face. I didn't know how Harry did it. One was enough to make me want to run, that night with Sirius there were hundreds.

* * *

We were up early the in the morning, almost three o'clock, for the journey to Grimmauld Place. The matter of transport was not simple. As the majority of us were not of age to apparate, we were flying, and as Muggles would unlikely take the sight of eleven people flying on broomsticks well, the nightfall was needed to cover us. Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks and Professor Remus Lupin were escorting us there. Before we set off, our guest's parents had all arrived to take them home.

It took an hour to get there, two at the most, although it would have taken longer if Tonks hadn't convinced Moody that he was mad for wanting to double back and make sure no one was following us. Our large party was gathered in a small square, facing a row of unkempt looking houses. I presumed that was the location of headquarters and I looked up at the numbers on the row of grimy houses. I found number 11 but directly to the right was number 13. I turned back to Mum with a questioning look but she merely inclined her head forwards. I returned my gaze and realised what she had meant. Between numbers 11 and 13, a door had appeared which was then followed by walls and windows. Moody looked back at us.

"Well, come on then, hurry up." He growled, walking up the front steps and holding open the door. Everyone hurried past him and into a long, narrow hallway. He quietly shut the door behind us and ushered us along the hallway, down a few steps and into a large dining room area, where Arthur, Molly and Bill Weasley, Sirius and my Father were seated around a long wooden table. Remus, Tonks, Kingsley and Moody joined them while we stood around in the doorway. Dad stood and hugged me, who was closest to him, followed by Liza and then gave mum a kiss. He stood behind Tyler and Nate and placed his hands on their shoulders. Sirius grinned widely but did not make to stand, as the room was already overcrowded. Mrs Weasley stood, taking no notice of this fact, and made for Ron, kissing him on the head, who grumbled in protest. She then gathered Hermione into a hug before turning to everyone.

"How have we all been then?" She asked cheerily, "Fred, George and Ginny are still asleep but you can go up in second and wake them and I'll start breakfast. We just need to discuss some things first." She gestured to the many vacant seats, "Everyone take a seat." We did as she asked.

"I presume Dumbledore has spoken to all of you about the Order of the Phoenix?" Sirius asked. Everyone nodded, "And you understand that he is the Secret Keeper for headquarters? That only he can tell people of this location?" Everyone nodded once more, "Right then. Now, about the halls-"

"Don't worry, we filled them in on that already." Hermione cut in.

"And about Kreacher." Ron sighed. Sirius scowled.

"Well then go and get settled in your rooms, Hermione and Ron will show you where they are." Mrs Weasley said quickly, preventing further comments to be made about Kreacher, the Black Family's house-elf who had a strong resentment of what Sirius was using the house for and the people residing in it.

Hermione and Ron led us up a large, dark staircase to the second landing.

"Sarah, you and Liza will be sleeping in here," Hermione explained to us, pointing to one of the two doors on the landing, "With Ginny and I."

"And Tyler, you'll be sleeping in here," Ron explained to Tyler, inclining his head to the other, "With me."

There was a loud _crack, _and I felt a hand placed on my shoulder. I let out a small squeal before quickly cupping my hand over my mouth in remembrance to what Hermione had said about being quiet. I turned around and saw Fred and George Weasley, Ron's twin brothers.

"You know, Sarah, you really ought to be more quiet, never know what you could wake." Fred taunted. I glowered at him.

"I see you two both got your Apparation Licenses then." I grumbled, hitting him on the shoulder. He laughed, my attempt at an attack having, as usual, no effect.

"Cheer up, Sarah, you'll get used to it." George grinned, "Well anyway, back to the matter at hand. You my friend," He said, pointing to Nate, "will be bunking with us."

"This is going to be very enjoyable." Nate laughed.

"Oh, and Ginny's awake, she's playing with Crookshanks and Liriana." Fred added.

"Oh! Crookshanks! I had completely forgotten!" Hermione exclaimed, yanking open the door to room we were now sharing.

Crookshanks was Hermione's half cat, half Kneazle and Liriana was his sister. Liriana was mine and, unlike Hermione, I'd had her since she was a kitten.

The rest of the day disappeared quickly, Molly having given us chores to keep ourselves occupied Most of these however, merely involved _Scourgify-ing _any surface we could get our hands on.

"What time is it?" I asked no one in particular as we all sat around in a large, empty room, but for a few armchairs, waiting to be granted permission to go back down stairs.

"Nearly ten past nine." Ginny answered, glancing at her watch.

"He doesn't have much time." I said to Hermione, lowering my voice. Fred and George instantly looked up.

"Who doesn't have much time?" George asked nosily.

"And 'til what?" Fred added. I looked to Hermione for direction, she inclined her head towards them as if to say 'tell them'. I sighed.

"Harry's going to be attacked by Dementors tonight, at twenty three past nine to be exact." I explained. Ginny frowned.

"How do you know that?" She asked.

"I had a vision last night." I muttered, afraid of what they might think. Ginny gasped.

"Will he be alright?" Fred asked, not put off one bit by what I'd just said.

"I don't know. He produced his Patronus, so, I assume so." I replied. He nodded.

"I've been thinking about it, Sarah, and I think you should tell them. The adults, I mean." Hermione suggested.

"I agree." Tyler added, "They'll want to know, Sarah, we don't think you're crazy and neither will they." He said supportively, almost reading my thoughts.

"You're right. I'll tell them when they let us downstairs." I stated.

By the time they finally let us downstairs, it was past 9:23, and Mum explained that she had already told them about my vision. They found out that an owl had been sent to Harry's Aunt's and Uncle's, saying that Ministry representatives would be going there to destroy his wand. However, Dumbledore had managed to persuade the Ministry to lower the charges, and it was decided that a court hearing would be held the next day. Harry was collected from Privet Drive by the Advanced Guard, all Order members, and brought to Grimmauld Place.

The evening flew by quickly, as did the next day once Harry arrived back and told us that all charges had been dropped, until which we were all worried sick about him. The time for sleep soon came and I was left staring at my fully packed trunk at the end of my bed, ecstatically excited to return to Hogwarts, before climbing into bed and for the first time in a long while, entering a deep and dreamless sleep.

* * *

**Chapter, oh yeah! Hope you're enjoying and please remember to review! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Parvati and I were sitting opposite in our compartment, Liriana curled up next to me and Tyler absentmindedly staring out at the countryside, discussing what we thought Lavender and Nate were talking about when we left them down the corridor and told them we would save them seats.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Parvati wondered.

"They are are couple now. So, I guess couple-y things." I suggested.

"Wow, aren't you two just having the most insightful conversation." Tyler groaned, interceding.

I chuckled and the door slid open unexpectedly, to reveal a platinum blonde headed boy staring unsurely at the two of us.

"Oh, it's only you three." Draco Malfoy muttered.

"Who did you expect it to be?" Tyler shot back coldly. Draco glared at him.

"Watch your mouth, Eddie." He threatened, "I'll put you on detention if you're not careful."

He remained silent and he turned his glare on me, his eyes instantly softening when they met mine. He continued to stare at me for some time, until someone cleared their throat from behind. He quickly glanced behind him before returning his gaze to me.

"Sarah." He acknowledged, something... different in his voice.

"Malfoy." I returned, unsure of why he had used my first name. He disappeared into the corridor, revealing Lavender and Nate who had been standing behind him. They both entered the compartment and sat down next to each other.

I was still staring at where Draco had just stood when Nate asked, "What was that about?"

"He thought we were someone else." I shrugged, bringing my attention back to the group.

"Why did he call you by your first name, then?" Lavender asked this time. Again, I shrugged.

"What were you two talking about?" Parvati prompted eagerly. Tyler groaned audibly and Lavender blushed slightly.

"Nothing you need to know." Nate answered, taking Lavender's hand in his. She smiled at him and he leant down and kissed her.

"Oi!" Tyler and I interrupted in unison.

"If you two intend on snogging the whole way, you can find somewhere else to do it!"

Nate chuckled and stood up, motioning for Lavender to follow him. "Come on, Lav, our affections are not wanted here." He announced dramatically. His new girlfriend giggled and followed him out of the compartment.

"Good luck finding any room!" I shouted after them. Parvati rolled her eyes.

"Was that necessary?" She scolded.

"It may not be to you, but it is thoroughly disgruntling to me!" I exclaimed.

"Agreed!" Tyler stated.

"The door slid open for a second time and Laurie came to stand in the doorway.

"Any room for me to sit?" He asked sarcastically, noticing the lack of company we had.

"No sorry, but you're welcome to sit on the floor." I said with a smile as I put my legs up on the seat, Parvati doing the same, pushing Tyler closer to the window. Laurie chuckled as he effortlessly picked me up, sat down and placed me comfortably back on the seat.

I woke, curled up on the seat, much like Liriana, who was now asleep on my lap, with my head resting on Laurie's shoulder. I saw that sometime during my nap, Harry had joined us and the compartment had become rather squished with the four of us, my cat and our luggage. The train had stopped and Laurie was gently nudging my shoulder, I could hear a lot of shuffling and muffled voices coming from the other side of the door. I sat upright and stretched, Liriana awakening and doing the same.

"Finally awake then?" Harry greeted.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, yawning.

"Bit less than an hour." Laurie replied.

"Come on then, or we'll end up back in London." Parvati said, standing and collecting her trunk.

We made our way off the train into the cold night air and, following the crowd, made our way to the gates. I shared a carriage up to the castle with Parvati, Laurie, Tyler and Katie Bell, who for the whole time could not take her eyes off Laurie.

"What was Katie doing, staring at Laurie like that?" I hissed to Hermione when were seated in the Great Hall and the sorting had commenced. She shrugged.

"I don't know, but I don't think you get to be jealous if you're not planning on going out with him." She whispered back.

"I never said I wouldn't, I have to think about it." I explained. "And I'm not jealous." I added indignantly. She raised her eyebrows and I turned away from her in denial.

The sorting soon finished with new additions to each house and many delicious smelling dishes filled the long tables. Everyone dug in and enjoyed being back at Hogwarts with friends. After the last plates of food were cleared and start of year announcements were made, we were all thankfully dismissed to our dorms. I seated myself in a comfy, three-seater lounge in a corner of the common room and Parvati and Lavender joined me soon after, Hermione being occupied by her prefect duties.

"So how is it?" Parvati asked Lavender, although, neither of us had any idea of what she was talking about.

"How's what?" Lavender asked back. Parvati rolled her eyes.

"Finally being with Nate!"

"I'm going to find Laurie." I said quickly, getting up to leave. The two girls simultaneously rolled their eyes and laughed, returning to their conversation.

I found Laurie sitting in a lone armchair by the fire and I started towards him. Unexpectedly he stood as someone else came towards him. It was Katie. I slowed to a halt as they began talking and she laughed and flipped her hair flirtatiously. The next minute she had wrapped her arms around his neck and they were locked in a kiss. I felt myself frown and before long, my eyes were watering rapidly. I hurriedly exited through the portrait hole and tore off towards the dungeons, where I always went to think, tears trickling down my face. I was near the potions room and I stopped and sank to floor.

I couldn't rationalise my actions or my thoughts. I had no idea how I felt about Laurie, but when I saw him with Katie, it hurt... a lot. I heard footsteps coming down the corridor towards me and realised I was openly sobbing. I clamped a hand over my mouth and risked a peek around the corner, in the desperate hope it wasn't Filch. Thankfully, it was a student, and as they came closer, I saw that it was in fact Draco Malfoy. I hastily wiped at my eyes and tried to quieten my sobs, but to no avail.

"Who's there?" He asked quietly.

"No one." I murmured back, not thinking of anything else to do. He was too close to make a run for it now. I buried my face in my hands as he came around the corner. I could feel his eyes fixed on me.

"Sarah..?" He asked cautiously, sounding nothing like the Draco I thought I knew. He knelt down to my height. I looked up into his grey eyes, they glittered in the light of the torches, they were positively mesmerising. He sat down a little way away from me, not breaking eye contact.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked. I wiped at my eyes again, as if my tearstained face was enough explanation.

"And why are you... crying?" He asked hesitantly. I felt a wave of anger come over me as the image of Katie and Laurie entered my mind.

"I don't know, okay?!" I practically shouted at him. He looked taken aback. We sat in silence for a while but I couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Do you know Laurie Parker in our year?" I burst out.

"Yeah, he's actually one of the few Gryffindors that I don't hate." He chuckled.

"What about me?"

"What?" He replied, confused.

"Do you hate me?"

"You go alright." He smirked. I smiled, momentarily forgetting about Laurie.

"What were you saying about Parker?" He asked, changing the subject back. I took a deep breath.

"He's one of my bestfriends and I like him more than that and I know he fancies me. I don't know what to do about it because I don't know if I'm willing to risk our friendship." I quickly explained. He nodded, prompting me to continue, "And just then I saw him kissing another girl and it hurt... so much." I felt new tears trickle down my cheek.

"I'm sorry." I stuttered, openly crying again. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. I'm pouring my heart out to a boy who for the past four years I've been taught to hate."

"You hate me?" He asked, obvious hurt in his voice.

"I've _never _hated you... Draco." I explained. He half smiled. "Can I ask you something?" He nodded.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" He looked hesitant to answer.

"You were crying. It's not as though I wanted to make you feel any worse." He stated, choosing his words carefully.

"No, not just now. Today on the train, you were absolutely horrible to Tyler-"

"He brought it upon herself." He interrupted with a snarl, his usual tone returning to his voice and sounding like the Malfoy I knew.

"Why do you treat people like that?" I asked bluntly, ignoring his comment, Tyler was my brother after all. He frowned.

"Any friend of Potter's is an enemy of mine." He spat.

"Then, why are you being so nice to _me_? Harry's practically family." I argued, getting frustrated. Draco stood up, clearly annoyed as well.

"Because you're different!" He said loudly, "You always have been!" I stood also, not liking the way he towered over me.

"When I look at you I feel... something. I've never gotten this feeling with anyone else before, not even Pansy. And it's a lot stronger this year, more so than it's ever been." He muttered, more to himself, pacing in front of me.

"You're comparing me to Pansy? Does that mean you-"

"I don't know, alright!" He said, cutting me off and sounding a lot like I had just a few minutes before. He stood very still, realising what he had just divulged to me.

"I have to go. I'll see you later." He finally said, stalking off down the corridor from which he had come.

After a while of trying to make sense of everything Draco had said to me and what I was feeling about Laurie, I decided I had better get back too. I slipped inside the portrait hole and saw that nearly everyone was where they had been when I left. I hurried up to the dorms without anyone noticing, changed and snuggled into the warmth of my bed, falling asleep in no time.

* * *

"Sarah..." A muffled voice called from somewhere in my dream, "Sarah..?" They called again, getting louder, "Sarah!" They finally shouted. I suddenly awoke from my half sleep, realising the voice was not coming from my dream but from a very impatient Hermione, standing at the foot of my bed.

"What?" I groaned, "I'm allowed to sleep in today."

"Hagrid?" She hinted. Realisation dawned on me as I remembered our conversation the night before involving visiting Hagrid to make sure he was alright as he hadn't been there to escort the first years across the lake nor in the Great Hall for dinner.

"Fine." I grumbled, jumping out from the warm blankets of my bed in an attempt at an energy boost.

I rummaged through my trunk and pulled out from the bottom, a warm jumper and jeans before bounding across to the bathroom, changing and making my long brown curls somewhat presentable. It was seven o'clock, meaning everyone was yet to wake up, how we wanted it. It was a very chilly and windy morning and the five of us, myself, Hermione and Harry, Tyler and Ron, slowly made our way down to Hagrid's cabin, stumbling and tripping in the wind. I rapped on the door but was met only with silence. I tried again but received the same outcome. Tyler tried to open the door but it was bolted shut.

"_Alohomora_!" I said, pointing my wand to the doorknob. It flew open with a loud '_bang_', but apart from that, Hagrid's cabin remained unpleasantly silent.

"I really don't think we should worry." Hermione conveyed in a hushed voice. "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore knows exactly where he is."

The five of us were sitting around the fire in the common room. Having only just arrived back from Hagrid's, it was still quite early and we didn't want to wake anyone.

"I think Hermione's right." Tyler answered.

"Me too. And there's nothing we can do about it now anyway." Ron added. However, I could see that Harry shared my sentiments with the concerned look on his face. The five of us stood to depart from the common room, eager to begin our first day of the year in the castle.

"Harry, Ron and I are going to get some breakfast in early. You two want to come with us?" Tyler asked.

Hermione answered first, "No thankyou, I think I'm going to go to -"

"The library." The four of us chorused.

"I have some things to revise before school starts!" She defended.

"That's the thing Hermione, school hasn't started yet!" Harry joked. She glared at him as she climbed through the portrait hole and descended the stairs. We all chuckles after her.

"'Mione just lent me a book so I think I'll stay here and start reading that." The three boys nodded and left the same way Hermione had.

The book I was reading,_ Macbeth, _by some Shackspert muggle, wasn't even a book but a play and turned out to be quite dull and extremely hard to follow so instead I took up a seat next to the window and stared out across the lake. It wasn't long before I could hear people stirring upstairs and finally footsteps coming down the staircase. I didn't bother turning around to see who it was, I was too wrapped in the view. Suddenly, someone's arms had wrapped around me and my eyes we covered.

"Guess who." He whispered menacingly in my ear.

"Morning, Laurie." I replied, trying not to let the images from the past night enter my mind.

"How'd you know it was me?" He sighed, defeated.

"Because you're the only one that's game enough to do that with me. You know I go mental when people surprise me." I explained, standing up and lightly shoving him. He caught my hands and pulled me into a hug, just like he always did.

"You are strange, aren't you?" He teased. I scowled at him.

"So how's Katie?" I asked, finally finding enough courage. He looked confused.

"Katie... Oh, you saw that?" He asked, coming to the realisation. I nodded. "Don't get the wrong idea, she kissed me. Angelina pulled her off me, said they'd been messing around with some love potion. It didn't mean anything." He reassured. I sighed, a little too loudly.

"Why? Were you jealous?" He taunted.

"No! Why would I have been?"

"Cause you love me." He drawled.

"In your dreams!" I shot back, shoving him again. He laughed.

"What's on the itinerary for today, Miss Sarah?"

"Mmm. Definitely breakfast first." I answered, realising how hungry I was.

"After that we should go for a walk, I want to show you something."

* * *

**Ooohhh, the begins of romance! Hope you're enjoying, please remember to review! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

"So, where did you and Laurie run off to yesterday?" Lavender asked, forever the gossip, wagging her eyebrows at me through the bathroom mirror as we got ready for classes. I rolled my eyes,"Well, after breakfast none of us saw you pair at all until dinner."

"Nothing happened if that's what you're wanting to know." I covered quickly.

"What _did _happen, then?" Parvati asked as she appeared in the doorway. I was silent while I looked myself over and adjusted my hair, at the same time recalling the previous day's events.

"_Laurie! Where are we going?" I laughed as I ran along behind the scruffy haired boy._

"_You'll see!" He called back, a huge smile lighting up his face. He rounded a corner and suddenly I could only hear the sound of my own footsteps. I turned the corner after him and collided with a hard surface._

"_You could have told me you st- Woah..."_

"_It's beautiful right?" He grinned. Beautiful was an understatement. We were at the top of one of the many towers of the castle that over looked the lake and the view before us was positively amazing. The sun had come out and the way the light hit the water made it shine and glitter as if millions of tiny diamonds rested at the bottom._

"_I've climbed this tower before. I can't believe I've never noticed how amazing the view was."_

"_I guess sometimes you just need to stop and smell the roses." He replied with a smile. _

"We explored." I finally said with a grin, leaving the bathroom and grabbing my book bag off my bed.

"The castle?" She asked, following.

"The castle, the Forbidden Forest... The Shrieking Shack."

"The Shrieking Shack's in Hogsmead! How did you get out of the grounds?" Parvati questioned as we and entered the common room, which was already alive with students.

"The secret tunnel underneath the Whomping Willow leads right into it." I replied cheekily.

"How did you know about that?" Hermione asked, meeting us at the bottom of the stairs.

"Harry let us borrow the Marauder's Map."

"Of course he did. I swear, one day that boy is going to get himself, or someone else, expelled." She muttered.

"So that's all you did all day? Nothing else happened?"

"_Thankyou." _

"_For what?" He replied, turning to face me._

"_For doing this, for showing me all these things." _

_We were sitting by the edge of the lake watching the sunset. It was breathtakingly beautiful, but I think the fact that I was watching it with him made it even more amazing._

"_I'm sure you've seen a sunset before."_

"_But never with you." I whispered, leaning towards him as he did the same. _

_And then we connected. Neither one of us started it, it was more of an unspoken agreement, not that I was worried about that at the time. Our lips moved together in perfection. It was like we were dancing together, to music that only we could hear. I entwined my arms around his neck and he placed his hands firmly on my hips, gently pulling me closer towards him so that I was able to manoeuvre myself onto his lap without us ever separating. It felt amazing, it felt right... It felt like home. I smiled at my last thought and for the first time pulled away, leaning my forehead on his._

"_I liked that." I said stupidly, at a loss for words._

"_Remind me why we haven't done it until now?" He asked, his eyes locked on my lips._

"_We thought the right thing to do would be to stay friends."_

"You _thought, _I _was forced to agree." He corrected. I rolled my eyes and he continued, "All I can say i-"_

"_Screw doing the right thing." I interrupted, quickly kissing him again before he had a chance to argue, which was highly unlikely anyway. _

"_I couldn't... agree... more."He managed between kisses._

"Are we talking about what happened between you and Laurie yesterday?" Hermione asked, catching herself up. I nodded.

"There's a slight possibility that something _may_ have happened." I teased. The three girls all unexpectedly halted.

"Sarah!" Hermione yelled, obviously eager to know.

"Come on! Just tell us!" Parvati practically begged. I smirked and ignoring their pleas, continued walking.

"To begin with, we will be learning the Silencing Charm." Professor Flitwick explained, "However, after the run through of your Ordinary Wizarding Levels, we now only have a short time left, so there is not much point in starting the theory work. You may talk amongst yourselves and move about the room if you wish. Do not think that we will be making a habit of this."

Professor Flitwick was definitely one of my favourite teachers.

"Sarah, are you going to tell me, _your best friends_, who you tell everything, what happened yesterday or not?" Hermione started once more, packing away her books. For a girl that didn't seem interested in anything other than school and following the rules, she was adamant to know about my love life.

"You'll find out very soon." I said sweetly, immediately standing and walking over to Laurie.

I turned back to my desperate friend with a smile before leaning down and kissing him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me onto his lap, gathering me into a hug. The whole class, excepting, of course, the Slytherins, who couldn't care less, went dead silent. A lot of very audible gasps were made, mostly by girls, followed by wolf whistles and a few "Finally!"s and "Took you long enough!"s. We both laughed at our classmates' reactions.

"Hey, girlfriend." He greeted, a huge smile stuck on his face.

"Hi, boyfriend." I replied, my facial expression mirroring his.

"I knew it! I knew something must have happened with you two! You were too bloody happy!" Tyler suddenly exclaimed as he and all of our other friends rushed over and engulfed us in conversation.

"I can't believe you weren't going to tell us!" Hermione scolded.

"This _was _me telling you!" I laughed. She hugged me and and was joined by Parvati and Lavender, who all grabbed some part of my body and pulled me side.

"So c'mon, tell us what happened." They prompted.

I began to recount the previous day's wonderful events, but something caused me to stop. Someone sitting amongst his fellow Slytherins on the other side of the room had caught my attention. To be honest, I hadn't even thought about Draco since the previous morning. So why was I unable speak just because he was staring at me? Why had the brilliant memory of the previous afternoon with Laurie been replaced with mine and Draco's encounter at the dungeons? In the prior moment, I had been so happy. I was with Laurie... I was finally with him, after years of unknowingly wanting to be. I should've been ecstatic and I had been, right up until the moment I locked eyes with Draco. There was something there, in his eyes. Jealousy? Hate? Resentment? Maybe all three. Although, I couldn't understand why. Yes, he had said he felt something for me, however, he couldn't name it. He said he didn't hate me, I was a rare exception, he probably just mistook that for fancying me. I couldn't help feeling guilty, and maybe even a little disappointed. Disappointed with what? I didn't even want to think about it.

Luckily, before the girls or anyone else could notice my distraction, the school bell tolled and I hurriedly gathered my books and rushed out of the room. Unluckily, Draco had done the exact same. So, instead of getting away from him faster, I ended up slamming into him in the corridor, just outside the classroom.

"I-I'm sorry, I wasn't watching." I stuttered, kneeling down and picking up my belongings that were now strewn across the stone floor.

"Next time you should try watching, saves me from picking up after you." He said cruelly, handing me the last of my books.

"What's your problem, Malfoy?" I spat, not taking kindly to being spoken to in that way.

"You know what my problem is, Eddie." He retorted, eyeing the boy that had just walked up beside me.

"Hey, Malfoy." Laurie greeted pleasantly, not noticing that the situation was anything but that. Draco did nothing but glare at him.

"C'mon, Draco!" Blaise called from further down the corridor.

His lingering friend turned back to me, but his glare faltered as soon as his eyes met mine, however he quickly recovered himself. One of Draco Malfoy's many talents was the ability to hide his emotions extraordinarily well, so it baffled me that he had crumbled, even if for a millisecond, when he looked at me. Ashamed of what he had just let slip, Draco turned on his heel and hurried to meet his waiting friend.

"What was that about?" Laurie asked, confused. Granted, the pair weren't joined at the hip, but the two had always gotten on to some extent.

"He was probably just in a bad mood." I lied without even thinking about it, not daring to look him in the eye, for fear of giving myself away.

Laurie slung his arm around my shoulder and we started for our next class, Defence Against the Dark Arts, with yet _another _new teacher, Professor Umbridge, from the Ministry.

"Please do come in students." She said in a slightly sickening, sweet voice.

Everyone did as she bade and took their seats. Professor Umbridge continued into her O.W.L speech, as all of the other teachers had done thus far. She then began to go through the subject's course and its aims when a problem arose.

"Excuse me, Professor, but there's nothing written in the course aims about actually _using_ defensive spells." Hermione pointed out. She was right, of course.

_Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic._

_Learning to recognise situations in which defensive magic can legally be used._

_Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use._

These were the only things written on the blackboard. There was certainly nothing about using defensive spells at all.

Professor Umbridge looked quite amused, "I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?" She said with a small laugh, "You will be _learning _about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way-" She continued calmly.

"What use is that?" Harry said loudly, obviously not liking the idea of not using magic either. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a-"

"Students will raise their hands when they wish to speak." Professor Umbridge interrupted. He immediately thrust his hand in the air and waited to be called upon.

"What good is theory work going to be in the real world? It won't prepare us for what's out there." I argued, ignoring the fact that she had not asked me to speak.

"Your hand is not up, Miss?"

"Eddie."

"Well, _Miss Eddie_," She drawled, "I can assure you, there is nothing 'out there'. Who do you imagine would want to attack children like yourselves?" She enquired. I scowled at her seemingly permanent happiness and made to answer, but Harry saved me the trouble.

"Oh I don't know..." He began in a fake thoughtful voice, standing and pushing his chair aside, "Maybe... _Lord Voldemort_?" A lot of people gasped, Lavender even screamed. Professor Umbridge, however, remained perfectly calm.

"Now, let me make a few things quite clear." She began, "You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned. _This is a lie._" She spelled out. I stood as well, utterly outraged.

"It is NOT a lie!" Harry and I shouted simultaneously.

"Detention! Both of you!" She ordered triumphantly. "Friday evening. Five o'clock. My office. Now sit and be quiet, I won't have any more outbursts from you."

But I was determined to stand my ground, Harry the same, but he tried to stop me.

"Sarah, no. I don't want to get you into any more trouble!" He hissed. But I ignored him.

"Cedric Diggory? How did he die?" I started. This time, _everyone _gasped. I may not have been there when it happened, but I hadn't had to see it to know Harry was telling the truth.

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows and stared, unblinking, at me. Hermione and Tyler, who were on either side of me, both grabbed one of my sleeves and wrenched me into my seat, but that didn't stop me from talking.

"Excuse me, Miss Eddie?" She threatened coldly.

"Cedric Diggory." Harry took over. "Are you saying that he dropped dead of his own accord?"

"His death was a tragic accident."

"It was murder." I stated bluntly, now sitting rigid in my chair, involuntarily.

"Voldemort killed him and you know it!" Harry spat.

That was it for Professor Umbridge. She beckoned him to her desk, wrote a note and sent it and Harry on their way. As he passed me he shook his head, warning me not to say anything more on the matter. I decided to take his advice. Any more outbursts and I'd probably end up with a week's worth of detentions. That, I didn't need. So, for the short remaining time of the lesson, I kept my head buried in our pathetic excuse for a text book, _Defensive Magical Theory, _concentrating hard on keeping my mouth shut.

Study hall was next and as it was only the first day of classes I used this time to read a new book Fred and George had recommended, _Idiot Incantations: Be the Perfect Prankster, _it was definitely amusing and it made me slightly less infuriated about the squabble in my previous class.

Just as I dumped my books on the table in the Great Hall for lunch, I spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione enter. Approaching them, Harry noticed the worried look on my face and sensed what I was thinking.

"Don't worry. I haven't been expelled." He reassured. I sighed with relief.

"Who did she send you to?"

"McGonagall, but she's on my side. She just warned me not to cause trouble for myself." He explained.

"I'm sorry if I got you into anymore trouble, Harry." I said.

"No! Thankyou for standing up for me. I just wish _I _hadn't got _you _in trouble."

"It's only one detention, and Umbridge was totally out of line." I shrugged.

"According to a lot of other people she's not. Everyone thinks I'm lying and that Dumbledore is an old fool for believing me." He explained, clearly frustrated.

"We believe you mate." Ron calmed. Everyone nodded in agreement, Harry smiled weakly.

* * *

**Love is in the air? Hope you're enjoying, please remember to review! :) **


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the week disappeared quickly, although nothing extremely interesting happened, and the time was nearing five o'clock on Friday evening. Which, in other words, meant Professor Umbridge's detention.

"We should probably get going, Harry." I suggested, after we had both quickly downed our dinner. He agreed and reluctantly, we made our way to Professor Umbridge's office on the fourth floor.

Walking down the corridor, there came a loud crashing and clanging noise from around the corner. Assuming it was other students, we ignored it and continued on.

"AHHHHHH!" Harry and I yelped simultaneously, for just as we had turned the corner we had been pelted with quills and ink pellets by none other than Peeves, the Hogwarts poltergeist.

"PEEVES!" Harry roared.

"Peeves, we do_ not_ need this right now!" I shouted angrily.

"Poor ickle Eddie and poor ickle Potty! Been naughty have we? Gots a _detention_?" He cackled, finding himself quite amusing.

"Peeves! Leave this instance!" Professor Umbridge ordered, marching out of her office.

"Hmph!" He said, sticking out his transparent tongue and zooming off in the other direction.

"Ah, Mister Potter. Come in." She greeted, her usual sickening sweet voice returning. I made to follow Harry through the door but Professor Umbridge stopped me.

"Miss Eddie, what do you think you are doing?" She asked, quite confused.

"You gave us both detentions..." I replied, equally confused.

"Oh. No, you may go." She decided. I frowned at Harry but he gestured that it was alright.

Careful to avoid Peeves this time, I journeyed back to the dorms. Everyone was in the Great Hall eating dinner and I thought it would be wise to get my homework; 10 inches on the ingredients, brewing and usages of the Draught of Peace for Potions and 8 inches on the Fanged Geranium for Herbology, out of the way before the weekend began. I stopped by the library on my way, picking up the books _Fire, Fangs and Venom: Plants you ought to stay away from_, _Feisty Plants from A to Z_ and _Peaceful Potions for Peaceful People_, to help me because honestly I couldn't remember half the things I was told in class.

The Common Room was deserted and I set myself up by the fire. I remembered that earlier on I had lent Laurie my inkpot so I ran up to his to room to get it. Sitting open on his bed was a short letter and at a glance I recognised his messy handwriting. Something was drawing me to read it, but I was hesitant, I didn't want to invade his privacy. Then again, we told each other everything so I doubted there would be anything in the letter I wouldn't already know, no matter who it was addressed to. Feeling slightly uneasy about it, I sat down on his bed and picked it up.

_Katie,_

_I'm sorry it turned out like this. I really never meant to hurt you. What happened with us in the summer was great and I meant what I said. I hope you know that I _still _mean it, even though I'm with Sarah. I want to talk to you... alone. Meet me at the entrance to the Bell Towers at one o'clock? We need to sought things out. I think we can make our own arrangement. That is, if you'll be okay with it? I'm sorry I'm not going to be able to completely be with you. I want to be, I really do, but I want to be with Sarah too, and that seemed to happen first. I care about you both and I don't want to have to choose. You don't have to write back with an answer, but I'll be waiting at the Bell Tower for you._

_- Laurie._

He must have been meaning to send it the next morning.

At first, I didn't want to believe it so badly that I convinced myself someone must had set him up, but reading over it again and again, I couldn't escape from the fact that it was _definitely _Laurie's handwriting. I sat there on his bed, speechless and unmoving with tears rolling down my cheeks and splashing onto the note I was still clutching, distorting the unbelievable words, until I heard the unmistakeable stampede of footsteps belonging to students returning to their dormitories. I hastily dried my eyes and stuffed the letter into my pocket before grabbing my inkpot out of his bag and returning to my homework.

I decided I wasn't going to confront him about it, not yet anyway. I needed advice first, but until I spoke to someone about it I wasn't going to pretend everything was fine because it was certainly not fine. '_I think we can make our own arrangement.' _The words lingered in my mind. I was going to give him a chance to explain, to prove me wrong, because if I was right, he was telling Lavender he would be willing to_ cheat _on me because he wanted us both. I hoped to Merlin that I was wrong.

At that moment, students burst through the portrait hole and the dead silent room was filled with loud chatter in seconds. I spotted Hermione and, abandoning my things, quickly ushered her back out the portrait hole, fighting against the incoming stream of students.

"What?!" She puffed after we had finally found our way back out into the corridor.

She stopped and took in my red, blotchy face, instantly sporting a worried expression. I hurried her under the tapestry that was the entrance to the North Wing and shut us in an unused classroom. I got the letter out and angrily shoved it at her, waiting for her to read it. My bestfriend's eyes skimmed back and forth as her expressions progressed from worried to angry and finally, sympathetic.

"I'm sure he wouldn't... It's not necessarily... It could mean anything." Hermione offered, trying to choose her words carefully.

I smiled feebly at her attempt to comfort me but not being able to hold it in any longer, I burst into tears. She rushed over to me and pulled me into a hug, refusing to let go until my sobs finally quietened.

"What are you going to say to him?"

"I don't know yet, but I'm going to do it after Quidditch tryouts tomorrow." I answered, wiping away a stray tear.

With nothing left to discuss we went back to the Common Room. The first person I saw was Laurie sitting in the far corner with our usual group. (Harry, Ron, Tyler, Parvati, Lavender, Dean, Seamus, Neville, Fred and George, Lee Jordan, Ginny, Liza, Nate and Mackay.) Hermione, noticing the pained look on my face, uncharacteristically snapped.

"That's it! I'm going to hex him so hard he won't remember his own name!" She yelled, beginning to stride towards him. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but it'll only make things worse." I heeded somewhat reluctantly.

"You're right." She sighed, backing off.

"I'm going up to our room, don't let him follow. Tell him I'm really tired or something." I instructed.

"Sarah, it's seven o'clock."

"Okay, but I'm sitting with you, not him."

Hermione nodded and, bracing myself, we joined our friends, bar one in my case. Tyler noticed something was wrong from my mere aura, some of our friends said we were the younger versions of Fred and George, we just lacked their comedic genius. I shook my head and told him a silent, "Don't worry." and he relaxed back into his armchair. Laurie moved over, expecting me to sit with him, and made to take my hand but I subtly moved it out of his reach and continued to an empty armchair in which I squashed into with Hermione.

I attempted not to sound too different, occasionally contributing to the current conversation, but whenever Laurie tried to engage me, I'd brush him off, giving him short answers. He needed to know I was cross with him. After two long hours, it was finally nine o'clock and I could use the excuse that I was tired to retire to my room, where until I actually _was _tired, I finished the homework that I hadn't yet even made a start on.

* * *

Rain drops the size of golf balls were pelting down upon the ground and to make matters worse, it was _extremely _windy. Definitely not the ideal flying weather. Angelina Johnson, the Quidditch captain, however, was unperturbed by this and seemed determined to be _just as determined_ as Oliver Wood had been the previous year.

By nine o'clock just about everyone was down in the Common Room, either eager for the team tryouts or annoyed that their eager friends had woken them. Angelina strode into the room, already dressed in her Quidditch robes with her broom in hand, and cleared her throat loudly, waiting for silence much like a teacher did.

"Okay, Gryffindors!" She began enthusiastically, "I want to see you all down on the pitch in half an hour, prompt and ready to fly, got it? Do _not _be late!" And with that, she strode back out of the room and the noise level quickly rose again.

I figured I'd go down before everyone else and help out Angelina because I was dead bored of waiting. I'd been up for hours and was dressed and ready to go. Fred and George were over in the corner, trying to stay out of Hermione's view, with a small group of first years gathered around them, undoubtedly trying to sell their latest Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products to their naïve prey.

"Oi! Wizard Wheezes!" I called to them. They instantly whipped around and rushed over to me, trying to shut me up.

"Sarah! If Hermione finds out we're in business again-" George started in an urgent whisper.

"She'll have our heads!" Fred finished.

"Come on, we have to get down to the pitch." I laughed.

"Angelina said not for another half hour!" George whined.

"Now!" I said bossily.

"Fine." They both grumbled, reluctantly following me out of the castle and down onto the pitch.

Everyone else who was trying out arrived shortly after, making sure they wouldn't have to face the wrath of our new captain.

"Firstly we'll be covering flying." Angelina announced, "Everyone line up along here... Okay, five laps of the pitch when I blow the whistle. Oh, and Fred and George will be pelting bludgers at you, so watch out for those. Everyone ready?" And the whistle screeched.

I kicked hard off the ground, simultaneously with about twenty other contenders. Harry and I were in the lead, being the only students who owned Firebolts gave us a huge advantage in this area. I dodged a bludger to the head by barrel rolling, Harry laughed and did the same,. At top speed, although highly dangerous, it was brilliantly fun. By the time we'd completed three laps we were miles ahead of everyone and we decided to hang back a bit. Within minutes the rest had caught up and Laurie soon shot past me.

"Hurry up slow poke!" He called as he went.

Anger washed over me and acting on impulse as opposed to logical action, I ducked into the middle where Fred and George were concentrating on trying to knock people of their brooms. I snatched the bat from Fred and swung it as hard as I could; it connected with the bludger and caused it to speed off in Laurie's direction. It narrowly missed him but before I could get a better shot, Fred had snatched the bat back.

"What are you doing?!" He yelled. "That's your _boyfriend _you're trying to maim!"

I glared at him and rejoined the race. I quickly advanced to the front where Harry was still holding the lead, we, of course, finished first.

"Now for the second and last part, this _will _take much longer. We'll be covering keeping and shooting." Angelina began instructing, "All those trying out for keeper, over there... And all those for chasers, here..."

"What about beaters?" A boy named Xavier Denholm asked.

"Get out." George ordered, quite serious. Angelina glowered at him but didn't argue.

"Now get into groups of four, three chasers, one keeper. We'll be rotating between groups and I'll asses each of your skills."

I stuck with Harry, who even though was a seeker, was playing a chaser to help Ron. He was looking positively sick about having to get up in front of the goal posts, the poor boy. Laurie joined us and I did my best to make him feel unwelcome. He, however, seemed to have no idea that I was about to hex his face off, which made me all the more angry.

Over and over we sped up and down the pitch, throwing the quaffle to each other and finally at the goalposts, where if he was lucky Ron would catch it. There was definitely better keepers that tried out than Ron, but Harry and I managed to convince Angelina to give him the position, promising that we'd practice with him all the time.

During our last go, I was so overridden with anger towards Laurie that I snapped again. Harry had just thrown me the quaffle and I pelted as hard as I possibly could at Laurie. It caught him in the stomach and knocked him off his broom. He was only a metre or two from the ground but he still landed with an audible '_thud'._

"Just a bit too hard, hun." He laughed, getting up and dusting himself off.

I quickly touched down and dismounted my broom. I pulled my wand out of my boot and advanced towards him, throwing hexes at him as I went, but with tears streaming down my face none of them actually hit him.

"Sarah! What are you doing? What's wr-" He started, but seemed to be suddenly hit with realisation, "You found the letter..." I nodded viciously.

"Sarah... I never... I didn't mean..." He tried desperately, starting towards me.

I instinctively backed away and for the first time, realised that everyone was gathered around us, even all the people who had been in the stands watching. With nothing else to say, I turned to leave, but he kept going.

"Wait-"

"No, Laurie." I said firmly, continuing to walk away, but he ran and caught my arm.

"_Stupefy!_" I shouted in anger, not thinking my actions through.

He flew backwards and for a second time landed on the hard ground with a loud '_thud'._ I picked up my broom and ran back up to the castle, not stopping until I reached my room and collapsed on my bed in a mess of tears.

* * *

**Aw, what a jerk. And I liked him too, oh well. Hope you're enjoying, please remember to review! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

"Evanesco." I muttered for the millionth time at the snail in front of me. Only it's shell disappeared this time, better at least than only it's antennae.

It was around eleven o'clock, past the time students were allowed in the corridors, on a Saturday night and I was sitting in the unused classroom in the North Wing by myself. Everyone was back in the Common Room but I didn't feel like being with them. By that, I mean I didn't want to have to talk to Laurie and actually sort things out with him. I had said that I would give him a chance to explain, but that was a lot harder said than done. I would have just gone to bed, but I wasn't at all tired. So, I settled for sitting alone and practising my Transfiguration.

The forgotten unlocked door creaked open and I did my best to hide behind the nearest desk. A boy with platinum blonde hair walked in and shut the door behind him before becoming aware of my presence.

"Didn't know you were in here." Draco mumbled, quickly opening the door again.

I didn't say anything, I just let him be on his way. However, he lingered in the doorway.

"How's Laurie... and you?" He asked uncertainly.

I couldn't ignore him forever.

"Uhh... I-I don't know." I answered truthfully.

He tilted his head and frowned in confusion.

"It's complicated." And once again, I poured my soul out to Draco Malfoy, telling him everything that had happened.

When I was finished, we were both sitting on the floor facing each other and I was, of course, crying, feeling extremely idiotic. He pulled a large, unlabelled bottle of something out of his robes and handed it to me.

"Drink some, it'll make you feel better." He offered, "Merlin! It's not poison!" He added, noticing the untrusting look on my face and took the first swig as proof.

He handed it to me and I swallowed a mouthful of the strange liquid. It was extremely hot and it burnt my throat as it went down.

"Where did you get _Firewhiskey _from?" I spluttered.

"I know people." He shrugged.

Within minutes, everything was already fuzzy and I was soon accepting more after Draco had taken another drink for himself. I don't remember much after that, it's all sort of a blur. All I can really get from that ill judged night is a lot of laughing and giggling and at one stage, I'm certain I passed out because everything went black and then I felt strong arms around me, lifting me up.

* * *

I awoke the next morning in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, with an unfamiliar arm around me, holding me closely to it's unfamiliar owner. As I wasn't fully awake yet, I had no idea where I was, but I made no move to get up. I lay there for a while longer, enjoying the warmth of the stranger's body next to mine, absentmindedly placing my hand on top of his.

The boy stirred next to me and woke also.

"Morning." He mumbled into my neck, pulling me even closer.

Then I remembered.

My eyes flew open and I jumped out of his grasp as quickly as I possibly could.

"Malfoy!" I hissed, standing on the cold stone floor.

"Reflexes." He smirked, not even remotely sorry.

I realised that I was no longer wearing the clothes I had had on the previous night. In fact, all I was wearing now was a white dress shirt that barely covered me. It didn't help the situation at all.

"Why am I wearing this? I did _not _have this on last night! Did you changemy clothes, Malfoy?" I asked furiously, tugging at the hem.

"_Relax. _I used a spell." He answered, pushing back the covers and getting out of bed. "Hey! That was the longest thing of mine I could find!" He added defiantly, seeing the look of disgust I was giving him.

"You didn't think of maybe pants as well?"

"Nope." He replied, making no effort to hide his wandering eyes.

I stopped, lost in thought. I remembered being in the empty room with Draco and then waking up in his Slytherin dorm, but in between was a complete mental blank. Anything could have happened in that time...

"We didn't... last night?" I stuttered.

"Like I'd want to with you!" He snidely remarked.

"Then why am I even here?" I snapped, a little hurt.

"You may what to be a little kinder to the man who saved you from a month's worth of detentions."

I rolled my eyes and glanced around at the other beds, only just remembering that Draco, like all other students, had roommates, but they were all empty.

"Where are your friends?"

He shrugged, "Probably downstairs. It's ten o'clock."

"How am I supposed to leave?" I asked, horrified at the thought of having to walk past a crowd of sneering Slytherins.

"They're used to it, and besides, they've already seen you here." He failed to reassure.

"You're terribly bad at telling girls what they want to hear." I sighed.

"So what _do _you want to hear?" He smirked, moving towards me.

Intimidated, I instinctively backed away and hit the wall behind me.

I'd woken up in Draco Malfoy's bed. That certainly wasn't something I planned on doing ever again. However, he assured nothing had happened, so I decided not to worry over it and to move on. But is it wrong that my mind was still lingering in his bed, laying next to him with his arm wrapped around me, holding me as close to his bare chest as he possibly could? After all, that was _supposedly _the affect he had on all girls... wasn't it?

"So, can you, er, change my clothes back so I don't suffer anymore humiliation than I already have to?" I quickly asked, trying to distract him.

"The thing is, I don't actually know the spell for bringing them back..." He chuckled.

"Malfoy!" I warned.

"You know, I like it better when you call me Draco." He chastised, "Fine, take the fun out of it. I'll lend you my cloak."

He retrieved his cloak from his dresser and draped it around my shoulders, it smelled smoky, like a wood fire, it was strangely addictive. I looked up into his swirling and sparkling grey eyes and he looked down into mine. I made out the tiniest hint of a smile on his face. Not a smirk, an actual, genuine smile.

Merlin, he was _handsome_.

"Well, hurry up then." He said suddenly, turning away.

He opened the door and taking a deep breath, I walked out into the Slytherin Common Room, Draco following closely behind me.

Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson and all of the other fifth year Slytherins were lounging about in chairs and on the floor, no doubt waiting to get a better look at the girl they had glimpsed in Draco's bed.

"Oh, she is nice!" Theodore catcalled.

Sitting next to him, Pansy scoffed.

I felt my cheeks redden as I quickened my pace and drew the cloak tighter around myself.

"Certainly the best, _by far_." Blaise agreed, looking me up and down.

"You know me, I only get the best." Draco chuckled, placing his hands on my waist.

If looks could kill, Pansy would have been in Azkaban for my murder.

"_What are you doing?_" I hissed, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Just having some fun." He replied innocently as we finally reached the door.

I wrenched it open and stepped out into the freezing corridor. He shut it behind him and casually leant against the doorframe.

"They're right you know." He said simply, that small hint of a smile back again.

I didn't answer, prompting him to go on.

"You're certainly... attractive, quite attractive really." He continued, not taking his eyes off me.

It wasn't as if I'd never had compliments from boys before, but something about receiving one from _Draco Malfoy_ made my head spin.

I still find it somewhat humorous the way people used his name, the way _I _used his name. '_Draco Malfoy'_, the two come hand in hand. Together they make him sound like some sort of legend, and I guess in some ways he rather is. But use either of them alone and you get a completely different result; '_Draco' _sounds seductive, but '_Malfoy' _just sounds plain menacing.

"I bet you say that to all the girls." I mumbled, concentrating on avoiding his gaze.

He didn't say anything more and I finally looked back up at him.

_Bad move._

His eyes were so... mesmerising. Boring into mine, they were almost drawing me towards him. Without thinking, I stood on my tiptoes and leant towards his lips. At the last minute, he turned his head and I kissed his cheek instead. I sat back on my heels, slightly offended, but mostly feeling very stupid.

"Sort things out with Laurie..." He mumbled, obvious disappointment in his voice.

I nodded my goodbye, too ashamed to say anything, and started down the dimly lit dungeon. Then I remembered his cloak.

"When do you want me to-" I began, turning back around. He was gone.

* * *

"Sarah, I know sorry isn't good enough." Laurie began, pacing in front of me.

I'd decided to take Draco's advice and sort things out with him, after all, there was no way I could just ignore the situation. However, between finding the unsent letter and sitting in Laurie's dorm talking to him about it, I'd had a pretty drastic change of heart. I'd forgiven him. At least, forgiven him to a certain extent, I definitely didn't want to be with him anymore. However, I didn't hate him, nor did I want to hate him. It was after dinner, I had spent the whole day alone thinking of what I would say to him and imagining what he would say back. Basically, I was scripting the whole scenario. Over-analysing and over-thinking things, _my specialty._

"Laurie I-" I tried.

"Please, Sarah, just let me apologise and grovel, then you can yell at me." He pleaded.

"Laurie-"

"Sarah, I don't know what I was thinking..."

"Seriously, Lau-"

"I wasn't thinking, that's it!"

"LAURENCE, SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME!"

He closed his mouth and prepared himself for the verbal abuse he expected to receive.

"I forgive you." I said calmly.

He cringed automatically but quickly stopped himself.

"What?" He asked in disbelief.

"I forgive you!" I repeated.

"But, Sarah!"

"You're really not helping yourself."

He sat down next to me and we just stayed there, staring into space.

"Is this the end of us?" He said after a while.

"Not as friends, you're not getting rid of me that easy." I answered sincerely.

He smiled faintly and continued to stare.

"Go on, Katie's probably waiting for you." I prompted.

"Thankyou." He whispered as he left.

* * *

I was in a graveyard, or rather, _we _were in a graveyard. Apart from myself, there were three others, two on my right and one on my left, but their faces were shrouded with darkness and I couldn't make out who they were. There was little light left and an eerie mist was gathering around the tallest of the tombstones, this did nothing but make the whole scene even more sinister. All appeared to be silent. It was that type of silence you experience underwater, as if you're completely numb to the world. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of green light and one of the figures on my right crumpled to the ground.

I knew where I was.

I awoke with a start and sat bolt upright in my bed, gasping for more air. _Harry. _I had to tell Harry about the visions. Everyone else in the dorm was still asleep. The first rays of morning sunlight were only just starting to filter in through the windows. I crept out of the room, careful not to make any noise, down the stairs and up another flight leading to the boys' dormitories. I made to open the door but it was locked.

"_Alohomora!_" I whispered after pulling my wand from the waistband of my pajama pants.

The lock rattled and fell open. I pushed the door forwards as quietly as I could and tiptoed over to Harry's bed. He was still sound asleep.

"Harry." I whispered.

He snored slightly in his sleep, but otherwise there was no effect.

"Harry..." I whispered slightly louder, nudging his shoulder.

Again, it had no effect.

Getting impatient, I forgot the rest of the sleeping boys and raised my voice to its height, "Harry! Get up!"

"Cedric! No!" He shouted in his dream before waking with a start.

I knelt beside his bed and calmed him down. Everyone in the room was now awake and Seamus was looking thoroughly disgruntled.

"Oh, give it rest, Potter!" He shouted.

"Shut it, Seamus!" I ordered, standing back up in anger, "Why don't you just go back to sleep?"

"No chance of that now, may as well go have breakfast." He snapped as he quickly put on his robes and stormed out.

"That's a great idea!" I yelled after him, thankful for him leaving the room.

Dean looked at me apologetically and followed his fiery friend out of the dorm.

"I don't mean to be rude, Sarah," Ron began, making his way over to me, "but why the the bloody hell are you here?"

And so I recounted everything I had experienced in my state of unconsciousness.

"It's just like the _vision _you had about Harry before school started!" Ron exclaimed, looking completely awestruck. Harry, however, wouldn't look at me and when he spoke his eyes darted around the room, trying to find something to focus on.

"I think you'd better talk to Dumbledore, Sarah." He suggested, "I mean, I know the world of magic is a bit out there at times, but this is too much."

I dismissed this instantly, Dumbledore didn't need to be worried with my silly little mind branching out to others, "I'll do it at dinner, I have to get to the library before lessons start." I lied and with a wave, departed the boys' dormitory, feeling slightly disappointed with Harry's reaction and advice.

I don't know what I had expected to achieve with telling Harry of my so called _visions_, but that surely hadn't been it. There was something about it that had made him uncomfortable, but what was it..?

* * *

**We got some weird, voodoo stuff going on here, man! Hope you're enjoying, don't forget to review! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Much to my dismay, fibbing to Harry and Ron that I had to skip breakfast to go to the library meant that I actually _had _to skip breakfast. Naturally, by lunch I was positively famished and in no mood to be interrupted from stuffing my face and naturally, Hermione had to haul me off to the side to talk to me.

"What is it?" I snapped impatiently as she surveyed the area, making sure no one was around to eavesdrop.

"Ron told me you had another vision." She said offhandedly.

"'Mione, if that's what you dragged me here to talk about, we can discuss it later-"

"No, no, no, stay here! That's not what I wanted to talk about!"

"Well then what, Hermione, because I didn't eat this morning!"

"You're as bad as Ron sometimes," She began scolding before starting at the glower on my face, "Alright! I want to suggest something to Harry, but I wanted someone to tell me it wasn't the most completely daft idea they've ever heard before first."

I nodded as she paused for my approval.

"I... I think Harry should teach us Defence Against the Dark Arts..." Hermione almost whispered.

"What?"

"Just think about it, Umbridge isn't going to be any use to us and we're going to need to know how to..." She stopped, almost too scared to continue, "Sarah, you know as well as I do that there's something out there. Harry's the only chance we've got."

I stared at her hard and it all became clear. Harry knew what it was like to be in combat, to be up against something evil. He'd fought You-Know-Who multiple times for Merlin's sake! We could learn from him, he could teach us how to defend ourselves.

"Oh, I know. It _is _daft." Hermione sighed under my stare.

"Hermione, no. It's brilliant!" I exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders.

"You really think so?" She asked, lighting up. I nodded furiously.

"Now I've just got to get Harry to agree to it." She said before she walked away. Now that was something we both knew was going to be hard. "And we're going to have to talk about _it _sooner or later!" She yelled over her shoulder, referring to those "visions".

* * *

Potions that afternoon was gruelling. It was the only class I had that day that Gryffindors shared with the Slytherins and one Slytherin in particular didn't seem to want to evade my mind. I still had his cloak, I'd kept it in my book bag on the off chance I'd get the courage to go up and give it to him. It still smelled like him...The last lesson of the day passed with me only catching words of Professor Snape's sentences and his final instruction, a twelve inch essay on the effects of Veratiserum to be done by the morrow, which I knew I was going to struggle with that night.

After dinner I sauntered up to the library not bothering to rush and occupied an empty table, dumping my belongings. I wandered the aisles of books aimlessly and gathered a few containing information on Veratiserum until I had myself a satisfying stack. When I returned to my table I found it was not as empty as I had left it.

"Hi." I said nonchalantly, not looking him in the eye as I sat directly opposite him.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Draco asked, like it was normal that he would. I shook my head in response, opening one of the books and beginning to read through it.

He pulled out parchment, a quill and ink from his bag and opened one of the other books, not saying anything more. I had finished about half of my essay when the silence finally became to much to bear.

"I still have your cloak if you wanted it back." I offered, not taking my eyes off of the words in front of me, nervous they would betray my calm composure.

"You can give it back when you want, I haven't missed it." He replied, continuing to scratch his quill on the parchment.

"Why are you here, Draco?" I blurted out. He looked up at me and studied my face for a while before going back to his essay.

"I don't know." He replied softly.

Neither of us spoke after that. When he finished his essay he got up and left without saying goodbye and when I finished mine I dawdled back to the common room, more confused than I thought I ever had been. I slumped down in an armchair next to Tyler who seemed to be completely rapt in a book about Quidditch, the only thing you'd ever see my brother read. I rested my head in my hand and sighed, I'd had an intense time already and we hadn't even been at school a month.

"Laurie told me what happened, are you okay?" He asked, setting his book down. I shrugged.

"I will be."

"Shortest relationship I've known you to have." He attempted at humour. I chuckled and rolled my eyes as Liriana jumped onto the armrest beside me and made herself comfortable. Tyler always seemed to know how to cheer me up, whether it was by making jokes at my expense or making himself look like a fool. "Laurie's a bit of a wanker anyways, Teddy."

I shook my head, "He's still your bestfriend, Rex." Teddy and Rex, they were nicknames we made up for each other when we were still children. I couldn't even remember how they originated.

"I had another dream." I told him quietly, staring into the fire.

"You mean one of those visions?" I nodded solemnly.

"I saw what happened at the graveyard last year with Harry. I saw Cedric die... I saw him come back."

"You-Know-Who?" I nodded again,"He really is back then."

"I'm scared." I admitted, more to myself. There was a a war approaching and he was leading it and I was more scared than I ever had been, I realised. More scared than when I stole Nate's broomstick when I was five and fell off it miles away from our house and I'd thought I'd broken every bone in my body until Tyler found me and told me everything would be okay. More scared than when I'd driven the Weasley's flying Ford Anglia with Ron when we were thirteen and we'd ran out of fuel in the middle of nowhere at night, only to find that we were parked fifty metres away from their front door the next morning. And more scared than when I'd been centimetres away from having my soul sucked out of my body by a Dementor before school started. I think everyone was scared, even the people that wouldn't admit that Harry was right. They were only lying to themselves out of fear for what the acceptance would hold.

"Me too."

I pushed myself out of my armchair and crawled over to the foot of Tyler's, resting my head on his legs, "What's wrong with me, Tyler?"

He stroked my hair comfortingly, "Sarah, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. I promise you we will work this out."

I stared into the fire thinking about Harry and You-Know-Who and my family and Draco and my friends and those ridiculous visions until I drifted to sleep. When I woke the common room was all but empty and I had been returned to my armchair with a blanket draped across me, Liriana in my lap. I sat up drowsily and spied Hermione, Ron and Harry sitting by a window. Careful not to interrupt them and what I knew they would be discussing, I wrapped myself in the blanket and tiptoed upstairs, turning in for the night.

* * *

Everyone was crowded around the noticeboard the next morning when I stumbled down to the common room. I spotted Fred and George appear from the midst of the group and push their way out, looking more pleased than they usually did. I hailed them over.

"What's all this fuss about then?" I asked wiping sleep out of my eyes.

"Angelina posted the results of the Quidditch tryouts." Fred answered.

"And naturally, we're beaters, fifth year in a row." George added, high-fiving Fred effortlessly.

"Naturally." I chuckled, passing them and pushing my way through the crowd of people to the team notice.

_This years Gryffindor Quidditch representative team has been decided as follows:_

_Harry Potter – Seeker_

_Ronald Weasley – Keeper_

_Fred Weasley – Beater_

_George Weasley – Beater_

_Angelina Johnson – Chaser_

_Laurie Parker – Chaser_

_Sarah Eddie – Chaser_

_Any inquiries are to be taken up with myself, the team captain. _

_Congratulations on your new positions, training will be held every Thursday. _

_I expect everyone to be there at 6:30 sharp._

_Signed, Angelina Johnson, Gryffindor Quidditch team captain. _

After what had happened at the end of the tryouts, I'd been slightly worried Angelina would look badly upon my behaviour, so I was very glad she'd overlooked it and chosen me for my regular position. It was my third year playing on the team. First years weren't allowed and in second year Harry had forced me to put on my brave face and approach Oliver, playing for both second and third year and skipping fourth year because of the tournament. I made my way back out of the crowd, receiving many congratulations and slaps on the back as I went. I spotted Harry and Ron nearby and hurried over to congratulate Ron. As I got closer I saw that he was looking positively gaunt and I was worried he'd faint at any moment.

"Ron! Congratulations!" I yelled, trying to cheer him up. He just looked at me with wide eyes.

"Yeah, congratulations... What am I going to do? I can't play Quidditch, what was Angelina thinking!" He burst out suddenly, sounding hysteric. I glanced at Harry. Angelina had only agreed to put Ron on the team on the condition that we practiced extra with him to help him improve... and he needed to improve a lot.

"You'll do fine Ron! We promised to help you out remember? We can start tonight if you'd like?" Harry offered, looking to me for assistance, I took the bait.

"Yeah, Ron! You're already really good, you just need to learn some tactics!" I tried to assure. Ron coloured a little and nodded, walking off and mumbling something about wanting breakfast.

"The poor thing" I sighed after he had retreated through the portrait hole.

"He'll be okay, we'll help him." Harry replied uncertainly before following our nervous friend out of the room.

I had an easy start to the morning with Herbology, so after I'd downed a hefty breakfast of pancakes submerged in maple syrup, I started down for the greenhouses. Winding my way through the castle I came across a certain long, blonde headed girl standing directly in the middle of a wide corridor, staring up at the ceiling.

"Hi, Luna!" I greeted cheerily. She smiled and swished her head so that her hair fell away from her face and I noticed dangly earrings in the shape of turnips adorning her ears.

"Hello, Sarah." She replied dreamily, not taking her eyes off of the ceiling. Not many people were too fussed on Luna, but I liked her. She was harmless and she always seemed to surprise me in some way or another, it was always interesting with Luna. I glanced up at the ceiling and spotted a pair of striped, rainbow sneakers dangling from the rafters.

"Are those yours?" I asked, a little confused. She nodded.

"It seems some of my classmates have played a joke on me, it's quite clever really. I was just admiring their knot work."

Their knot work, honestly. Although, it really hadn't even surprised me. I smiled and shook my head.

"I have to keep going, Luna, so I'll talk to you later. Oh! And I really like your earrings!" I said over my shoulder as I continued my path to the greenhouses.

The lesson went by smoothly, we spent it taking notes on the Fanged Geraniums Professor Sprout had lined up at the front of the greenhouse in preparation for handling them the following lesson. Everyone in the class, including me, were joking about how harmless they were until Ernie Macmillan walked past one and it took a chunk out of the back of his robes. Everyone was quiet after that.

Next I had Care of Magical Creatures which would have been a lot more enjoyable if Hagrid had been back. Professor Grubbly-Plank was a good teacher, but no one could make handling dangerous creatures fun like Hagrid could. We were really starting to worry about him, no one had heard or seen anything of him since the start of term. Neither did it help at all that Professor Umbridge was walking around, standing over students shoulders, asking the Slytherins, of all people, how they liked Hagrid as a teacher. At some stage I heard Malfoy and his cronies mouth off about him and I had to resist the strong urge to go over and call him a traitor, or punch him or slap him or something. He was a git sometimes.

In anger I tore through my started essay on Bowtruckles and stood up to throw away the crumpled piece of paper. As I turned, I slammed into something large and hard and all the air was knocked out of me.

"Jeez, watch where yer going, Eddie!" Seamus shouted at me.

"Why don't you ask your mother to watch where _she's _going." I grumbled back. It was a poor shot, I'll admit it, but Seamus just got on my nerves. His face reddened.

"What was that about me mum?" He shot back. I glared at him, looking him straight in the eye.

"Nothing." I spat before turning away and finding myself face to face with Professor Umbridge.

"I would ask you, Miss Eddie, to be respectful towards all students." She said in her little, sickly sweet voice. I heard Seamus chuckle behind me and I wanted to turn around and tell him to shut it or I'd snap his wand in half, however, I thought that may be unwise.

"Yes, Professor." I said slowly, making sure to emphasise both words carefully. She hummed in disapproval and stalked off to find another student to prey on.

"Just ignore them, _both_ of them." Hermione advised after I sat down again with her, Harry and Ron.

"Yes, because that's so easy." I said through clenched teeth. I realised I was starting to act as Harry did when he became frustrated, so I calmed myself. I inhaled and exhaled deeply and leaned on my best friend's shoulder, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She assured. She smiled and played with a loose strand of my hair.

When the class was finished I managed to steal away alone and found myself a shady elder tree to lay under, as for once the sun was surprisingly showing through the dense grey clouds that seemed to permanently occupy the sky. I needed time to think, I seemed to need a lot of that time really. There was too many things going on at the same time, my brain only had room for a certain amount. However, instead of using my thinking time for actual thinking, I ended up dozing off for a little and only woke when the school bell startled me from my nap.

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**Chapter 7! Hope you're enjoying, don't forget to review! :)  
I replaced Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell with Sarah and Laurie on the Quidditch team for story purposes, I hope you don't mind. **


	8. Chapter 8

I should have thought about my next class. I was on the complete opposite side of the grounds to Transfiguration and I knew McGonagall wouldn't be impressed if I was late. I hauled my bag onto my back and ran full pelt through the castle, trying my best to dodge the oncoming students and teachers passing me. I felt my feet trip up on something I hadn't seen and I hurtled through the air. Before I hit the ground, however, someone grabbed the back of the robes and wrenched me back into a dark, narrow passage, shoving me up against the cold stonewall.

"I'd like to have a little chat to you, Eddie." Pansy Parkinson patronised, trying to keep her screechy voice low.

"Parkinson, I don't have time for your rubbish, let me go." I demanded, knowing I was already at least ten minutes late. She laughed shrilly and pushed me against the wall with more force.

"I wouldn't be speaking to me like that if I was you." She threatened, "Now, whatever it is that's going on between your filthy self and my precious Draco is going to end right this moment and you're going to stay away from him, got it?"

"Is that really what this is about, Parkinson?" I sighed, rolling my eyes, "You can have your _precious Draco_, he's an arrogant git. I hope you two are happy together."

By that time I'd managed to slip my wand out of my pocket and I drew it right under her chin.

"Now, _if I was you_, princess, I'd let the witch that's holding the wand to your throat go and walk away." I suggested menacingly, I wasn't in any mood to deal with her or any of her kind.

She stared at me hard and I could see the fear evolving in her eyes, she knew what I was capable of. Slowly, she released her hold on me and backed out of the passage and not a second later I heard her bolting down the corridor in the opposite direction. I glanced at my watch and cursed. I sprinted the rest of the way to class and by the time I arrived and threw open the doors, I was puffing and heaving so heavily that I couldn't speak.

Professor McGonagall was sitting at her desk at the top of the classroom, glaring at me and I quickly walked to her desk. At the last minute I noticed Umbridge perched on a chair in the corner and she smiled in her sickly sweet manner before scratching something down in her notes with her pink tipped quill.

"So glad of you to join us, Miss Eddie." Professor McGonagall said sternly.

"Professor, I-" I started.

"Take a seat." She ordered quietly.

"But, Professor-"

"Take. A. Seat."

I bowed my head and did as she asked. Every pair of eyes in the class followed me as I walked to the back of the room where the only vacant seats were. It was a difficult lesson for everyone, especially the Professor. Umbridge repetitively interrupted her while she was giving an explanation and it reached the point of making her so frustrated that by the end of the lesson everyone dashed from the room, attempting to avoid her wrath. I was included in the stampede of fleeing students, however, Professor McGonagall called me back to her desk before I had a chance to escape. Umbridge had scuttled out with the students, so I at least didn't have to worry about that pink rat. Solemnly, I trudged up to the Professor's desk once more.

"Professor, I really am sorry for being late. I fell asleep on the other side of the castle and I got caught up trying to get here-" The explanation tumbled out of my mouth before she had even uttered a word.

"While I'm sure those are all wonderful excuses, Miss Eddie, that is not what I wanted to speak to you about." She interrupted quickly, "Mr Potter has told me about your behaviour towards Professor Umbridge-"

"You can't seriously be telling me you care-" I exclaimed, forgetting myself.

"As a teacher it is my duty to protect my students from any... harm, and I am telling you, do not retaliate to Professor Umbridge. You must avoid unnecessary trouble for yourself." She explained further, "Do I make myself clear?"

I nodded, "Yes, Professor."

She _was_ on our side, like Harry had said. That had to count for something.

"You may go." She granted in her forever stern voice, only with the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, "Oh, and you might want to think about getting more sleep during the designated hours, Miss Eddie. I will not tolerate you being late again."

My afternoon lessons were attended with lifted spirits, mainly due to the fact that Umbridge had completed her intense lesson inspections and I didn't have DADA and after dinner I strolled around the castle in content solitude. With the short amount of time I had until it would be unwise to be caught outside the castle, I lay on my back on a hard stone bench in one of the quieter courtyards, absentmindedly tracing the outlines of some of the constellations I knew with my wand. After some time I became aware that there was someone standing next to the bench, watching me. I hadn't heard him approach.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"In your bad books today, am I?" He sneered.

"Most days, actually."

There was a pause.

"I need to talk to you."

"Isn't that what you're doing now?"

"Okay, what have I done now?" He asked, lapsing back into his old, cruel tone.

"How much time do you have?" I retorted, matching him. I wasn't giving him any help.

His hands curled into fists as he beat the air and let out a noise that was half way between a scream and a shout. I didn't flinch. This was the Malfoy that everyone loathed, I knew. But this wasn't him. He collapsed on the ground directly opposite me into a sitting position and held his head in his hands.

"Stop it." His voice was muffled.

"Stop what?" I asked levelly. I refused to let him know that this was hurting me too, for whatever reason, and that that scared me.

"Stop treating me like they do."

I raised myself into a sitting position, my harsh front melting before him, "Stop acting like Malfoy."

He looked up at me quizzically, "But... I am Malfoy."

I shook my head and stood to leave, "You're Draco."

He still appeared confused, however, he caught my arm as he quickly stood, "I- I still need to talk to you."

I couldn't be sure of what he wanted to say to me, but I was sure that whatever it was I wasn't ready to hear, not from him, not from this boy that had made his way silently into my mind... and heart, and seemed to have settled there.

"It's late, we should both get back to our common rooms."

"Sarah-"

"Draco, please." I could see the glassy layer slowly cover my eyes. He moved closer to me, still holding my arm. I steadied myself.

"This... you... it's scaring me. I don't kn-"

"I'm scaring you?" His face dropped and he let go of my arm, immediately backing away from me.

"No, Draco, how I fe-"

"I-I didn't mean to... I should have left you alone."

I shook my head vigorously, salty tears visibly running down my cheeks as I tried to go to him, but he only backed away further. "Please, listen-"

"I'll go, okay? I'll leave." He was walking away and I couldn't form a sentence and I didn't know why I was so upset.

"Draco?" He had broken into a run and within seconds he was out of sight.

Idiot.

_Everyone_ was scared of him.

* * *

The morning lessons passed agonisingly slowly with History of Magic and Ancient Runes and in Potions, much to Snape's disapproval, all I could do was continually stare at Draco, trying desperately to get his attention.

"Eddie! What are the two main ingredients of the Strengthening Solution?" Snape snapped at me. Hermione's hand instantly shot into the air beside me.

"Uhh... salamander blood and powder of- powdered hippogriff claw?" I stammered, wracking my brain. Hermione coughed disapprovingly.

"Incorrect! Powdered griffin claw. I advise you _pay attention_ in class."

"Yes, sorry, Sir." I answered half-heartedly.

I let my eyes wander towards Draco again. Blaise was nudging him and laughing in my direction, the classic Slytherin ridicule. Draco glanced at me wearily and I inclined my head towards his arrogant friend with a smirk and a flick of my wrist under the table.

"_Diffindo!"_

Blaise's wooden chair collapsed beneath him, sending him sprawling onto the hard stone floor with a loud yelp. Draco didn't flinch, he looked over his friend, then back at me and returned to his work. I was sure that I would have had him with that, I'd ventured out onto a think limb for him. Was he really that bothered by me? I could almost feel the outrage being projected to my right and the amazement to my left, however, with my newly sulky attitude I chose to ignore both Hermione and Tyler sitting either side of me.

When the lesson finished I completely forgot myself and ran after Draco, calling out to him loudly and causing an embarrassing scene for myself. Blaise turned around to identify me after the first time but Draco only reacted after the third or fourth, when it was getting ridiculous. He spun around and marched up to me.

"_What_ do you think you're doing?" He snarled at me as people walking past gave us curious looks.

"Draco, I just wanted to talk you about last night."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He lied, straightening up and taking in the people around us.

"You just left, ran away! Draco, I didn't mean to hurt you, but-"

"Hurt me?" He laughed cruelly, "you think _you _could hurt _me_?"

I frowned and blinked furiously, not understanding why he was acting this way.

"Look, Eddie, I think you just need to go calm yourself down and leave me alone." He laughed again. He knew exactly what he was doing to me. It was cruel.

"Everything alright here, Sarah?" Tyler had been looking on from a distance and put a protective arm around my shoulder, but I couldn't formulate any words.

"She's fine, she was just leaving actually." Draco sneered.

"I seem to recall talking to my sister, Malfoy." Tyler retaliated.

"She just didn't seem able to answer at the moment, bit emotional, you know, Eddie?"

Tyler's clenched fist collided with Draco's jaw on full impact, cutting through the air like a steel sword and landing the blow. Draco stumbled to the ground as Blaise came striding over, ready to launch himself at the offending Tyler. I came to my senses and stepped between them, clutching my wand beneath my robes, something I thought was particularly brave in theory.

"Zabini, if you even touch my brother, I will make you damn sorry you did."

I was aware that he hadn't retreated because of my threat, a threat from a clumsy girl only as tall as his shoulders. It was because Draco had communicated some unspoken signal to him and he was aware of whatever it was that was going on between Draco and I. Blaise knew that hurting Tyler would only make the already complicated situation worse for his friend.

"Are you okay, Teddy?" Tyler asked, cradling his hand after the two Slytherins had stalked away.

"I'm fine! And don't call me Teddy. I'm not ten years old, Tyler, I don't need your protection anymore."

"What was all that about then?" He continued, ignoring my anger.

"Nothing, it's Malfoy, he's a git, okay?"

"Okay, Teddy, let me know if he gives you anymore trouble."

Tyler was about to leave to go to lunch, sensing that I didn't particularly want him around at that moment, when a searing pain exploded in my head, dropping me to the ground and causing me to cry out. Tyler was back at my side in an instant and clutched each side of my face, forcing me to look at him, he knew what was happening.

"Teddy, focus on me, okay? Just look at me, don't think about anything else but me."

My hearing was the first of my senses to go and my sight began alternating between my brother's face, his muted lips still telling me to focus on him, and a graveyard, the same graveyard I'd seen previously. The flashing quickly slowed until all I could see was the graveyard in which Cedric Diggory was killed and _he _was restored to full power. However, I didn't see Cedric die this time, I saw Harry and You-Know-Who mere metres away from each other, surrounded by Death Eaters, all draped from head to toe in black, much resembling Dementors. One in particular stood out to me, a man with platinum blonde hair identical to his son's, Lucius Malfoy. Harry had always said he was a Death Eater, and now for me there was ocular proof.

Faintly, I heard someone, a man, yell my name, and my senses slowly crept back until I had control over them once more. However, I wasn't on the stone floor of the corridor anymore. I was seated on a high stool, slumped over a table in the classroom I had just left, I could feel Tyler's presence next to me. The man yelling was Snape.

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**It's about to get crazy? Hope you're enjoying, don't forget to review! :)**


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